Playing dumb
by 8annie81
Summary: Genderbender humanized. Kowalski is tired of being picked on. She discovers two ways to deal with it. Listen to Skipper and learn to fight or make horrible choices. Please give it a shot I'm feeling good about this one :D
1. Studying

"Hey! Give them back!" Kowalski yelled trying to snatch her glasses back from the tall boy.

Skipper rolled her eyes and got up from her seat. This was the third time this week alone she'd had to get Kowalski's glasses back for her. So at this point she wasn't putting a lot of fined skill into her strategy.

She looked boredly up at the boy. He was so much taller than herself. She punched the boy in the stomach and caught the glasses before they fell. Then left him to recover.

"Kowalski you need to stand up for yourself!"

"I do it's just that I can't see without my glasses!"

"And your enemy's know that. Making it a-." She said in a very leading tone cutting herself off and motioning with her hand for Kowalski to Finnish her sentence.

"Weakness." Kowalski finished slumping her shoulders in annoyance. "I know Skipper, but what can I do about it?"

Skipper smirked. "I'm sure you can come up with some options Kowalski." Then she walked off and sat in her desk as the bell rang.

Their teacher, Mr. Allen walked in and shut the door. He began his long boring lecture on the industrial revolution and almost dozed off himself a few times.

For once Kowalski wasn't paying attention. She was busy deciding what to do about people taking her glasses. Suddenly she realized she was being called on to answer a question she hadn't heard.

"Kowaski!" Skipper hissed.

Several people laughed, but Mr. Allen just stared with a bored expression.

"What?" Kowalski asked confused.

"Question five." Mr. Allen asked sternly.

"Uh...three?"

The class laughed. Confused Kowalski looked to Skipper for help. Skippers face was blank, but her tapping knuckles spelled annoyance.

Kowalski gulped. "B?"

The snickering that had died down came back with a vengance. Kowalski sunk down in her chair, her face reddening.

Mr. Allen rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

The boy behind Kowalski snickered. "Nice one." He said.

Kowaski's heart cleanched. She looked back and Darry, her heart throb was smirking at her.

She spent the rest of the day sighing and swooning. After school she went to meet her friends in their "HQ".

* * *

_The HQ as Skipper had named it was a treehouse built in the tree that had grown in five by five gap between the fences of four houses._

_One house belonged to Skipper's family, another to Kowalski's family, their friends Ricolette and Private's families occupied the other two._

_One summer Skipper had hastily erected a tree house and Kowalski had commented to the secretive girl that the lot was 1/4th hers._

_That one little comment had started a war. The commotion drew Ricolette outside and she decided she wanted the tree house too. At that point the girls mothers had called them inside._

_They somehow came to the conclusion that the first one in the tree hose the next day after school would get to keep it. They were all confident they would win._

_Private unaware of the feud was sitting in the tree house having a tea party with her dolls._

_When she found out she'd won she just happily stated they'd share it. And they have for years._

* * *

Kowalski smiled at the memory of how they came to share the tree house, but frowned when she saw Skipper sitting on a branch her eyes closed tightly.

"Skipper?"

Skipper opened her eyes. "Hmm?"

Kowalski looked down and kicked at the ground. "Thanks for helping me get my glasses back."

"Again." Skipper added sarcastically.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Hit like that. Do you have a method or is there a specific angle of trajectory-."

"It just takes practice Kowalski." Skipper said slightly annoyed.

Kowalski sighed. "Oh."

Skipper jumped out of the tree and landed right in front of her. "Kowalski if you failed a test what would you do?"

Kowalski tapped her chin. "Cry?"

"After that!" Skipper said exasperatedly.

"Study?"

Skipper snapped her fingers. "Exactully. That's what practice is! It's like studying for your body and your fighting abilities."

"Hmm." Kowalski mused dejectedly.

"What?"

"I'm not very good with the physical stuff. Now physics-!"

"So study! Practice!"

"Mmm." Kowalski groaned. "I'll never be the fighter you are."

"If you practice-."

"Skipper." Kowalski said with raised eyebrows.

"Come on Kowalski it's not hard."

"Yes it is!"

"Is not!" Skipper said growing frustrated.

"It is." Kowalski said sadly.

Skipper sighed. "Tell you what Kowalski. You want a method?"

Kowalski allowed herself to brighten slightly. "Yes.." She said warily.

"If I could give you a method would you practice?"

"I guess."

"Great. Slip this on." She tossed a ring at Kowalski.


	2. Give Ringtail a ringer

Kowalski caught it. "Your ring?"

"Look at it."

She looked at the ring holding it far away and then close up until she'd found the right distance. It had a big jewel and the words "International Boxing League" carved into it.

"You were a boxer?"

"I was lots of things." Skipper mused for a moment. Pausing to reflect. "So will you train with me?"

Kowalski smiled. "I will."

So Skipper began instructing her and they trained for half an hour before Private and Ricolette came outside.

"Hey Skippah, Kowalski!"

"Whazzup!"

"Ricky, Private. Tardy to the party are we girls?" Skipper said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry Skippah we thought you looked busy." Private chirped. "What were you doing anyway?"

"I was helping Kowalski study." Skipper said proudly.

Kowalski giggled.

"Well that's a bit odd."

Skipper clapped her hands. "Alright girls. Lets commence operation "Give Ringtail a ringer with Kowalski's ring finger"!"

Kowalski raised her eyebrows and frowned. "Really Skipper?"

"What? You need practice."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Ricky jumped up and down motioning to herself. "Me. Pihck me!"

Private frowned. "Skippah! Is the entire plan just to find Julia and punch her?"

Skipper smiled. "Yep."

"Oh." The British girl said sucking air through her teeth. "At least wait until she does something rude."

As if on cue. _I like to movie it move it~ __  
_

"Perfect timing." Skipper said deviously. "Roll out girls."

They made their way to Julia's house. Maria and Mort were already there as always. The girls hid in some bushes.

"Kowalski, you want first swing?"

"Uh..."

"Come on! We hit Ringtail all the time!"

"I don't know.."

"I'll do ite!" Ricky offered hoarsely.

"No I want to see Kowalski do this." Skipper said placing a hand on Ricky's shoulder to steady her.

"Awww."

"Next time Ricky. Next time." Skipper said tapping her shoulder. Then she turned back to Kowalski. "Remember when Ringtail thought she wanted to be a scientist and became your lab assistant?" Skipper asked cheekily.

Kowalski rolled up her sleeves.

* * *

_Kowalski was being pain stakingly carful. Gently dropping with a thin eye dropper the tiniest amounts of some chemical._

_"What are we sciencing today?" Julia had asked coming from no where._

_Kowalski squeezed the eye dropper too hard. She broke her beaker, blackened her face and lost most of her eyebrows. But it didn't end there._

_Julia was into everything all day. She had taken the liberty of borrowing one of Kowalski's lab coats and promptly ruined it by decorating it to be more queenly. Julia also refused took Kowalski's glasses at one point while she was writing down the results of an experiment._

_Causing another explosion. This annoyed Skipper and he locked Kowalski out if the lab for the rest of the day._

_But seeing as how someone else had taken a sudden interest in science Kowalski had tried to humor Julia. They studied bugs in Kowalski's yard. Suddenly Kowalski saw what she thought to be an extinct variety of spider on Julia's back._

_Okay..perhaps that was her fault._

_But the absolute worst was when Julia said, "I am growing broarding of this. Will you do my sciency project now?"_

_Maria had told Julia that if she was nice to Kowalski and did the things Kowalski likes she might help her._

_When Kowalski learned why Julia'd been hanging around claiming to want to do science Skipper actually had to hold her back._

* * *

Remembering that Kowalski marched towards Julia angrily.

"Oh hey sciency girl. What are you doing here?" She asked picking wax out of her ear.

Kowalski punched Julia's stomach. "There is a HUGE difference between acids and bases! It does matter!" She yelled.

"Ooh." Julia said breathlessly. "I thought you were being over that."

"And don't get me started on my eyebrows!" Kowalski sniffed a little. "Darry saw me."

A rare idea sparked in Julia's brain. "Oh you are liking the Darry boy? Did you know he likes silly girls? He's not really into the I-Qey types."

"Oh." Kowalski said sadly.

"But I could be helping you be sillier!"

Kowalski smirked. "Thanks, but no thanks Julia. I-."

"You're being welcome! No be coming with me. I will teach you the ways of the silly ones!"


End file.
